Emma Thompson Threatened to Walk Off Set If Producers Asked Another Actress to Lose Weight
You know she meant it.
Emma Thompson is a queen who looks out for other actors who may have less klout or confidence in the crazy filmmaking industry. In an interview on Swedish talk show Skavlan, Emma told an anecdote about being on set and hearing a producer ask a younger actress if she’d consider losing some weight.
“There was a wonderful actress in a film I did called Brideshead Revisited,” explained the actress. “And the producer said to her, 'Would you lose some weight?' And she was exquisite.”
Emma intervened, saying, “If you speak to her about this again on any level I will leave this picture. You are never to do that."
“It’s evil what’s happening and what’s going on there,” Emma continued, “And it’s getting worse. The French fashion industry said they would get rid of size zero and then, you know, they didn’t.”
US Weekly reports that Emma went on to describe how so many people in her industry “simply don’t eat” and describes it as a persistent issue that she’s speaking out against because she’s frankly tired of hearing about it.
"The anorexia, there’s so many kids, girls and boys now, and actresses who are very, very thin into their 30s, who simply don’t eat. They don’t eat! Sometimes there are just some subjects that you absolutely have to make noise about because it’s so tedious and it’s gone on and on.”
The 57-year-old actress did admit she’d been pressured to change in the past, but at this point when asked about her weight (how dare they), she’ll respond, “Sorry, do you want me to be an actress or a model?”
It's great that Emma is using her voice to speak out for young people who likely don't feel confident defending themselves in a competitive industry—one that in turns influences the public's perceptions of beauty and weight. Now to go look over the cast of Brideshead Revisited to search the cast for the ingenue someone dared to criticize in front of this powerhouse.
